Keith Aulie | Defenseman

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Recent News

Keith Aulie will be back on the blue line Wednesday night when the Oilers take on the Avalanche.

With Andrew Ference out due to a concussion, Aulie will line up on alongside Martin Marincin to form the Oilers third defensive pairing. Aulie last dressed back on March 16th and has played in 22 games overall this season, picking up one assist. He does, however, have 57 penalty minutes and 41 hits this year. Mar 25 - 6:26 PM

Keith Aulie will be held out of the lineup Wednesday night versus the Blue Jackets.

Nikita Nikitin will rejoin the Oilers lineup after being sidelined with a shoulder injury since January 29th which means Aulie will be listed as a healthy scratch. Aulie had dressed in four of the last five games before being scratched Wednesday but carries no fantasy value as he just one assist in 22 games this season. He does however, have 57 penalty minutes in those 22 games. Mar 18 - 7:50 PM

Keith Aulie will be listed as a healthy scratch Monday night in Detroit.

Looks like Jordan Oesterle will get back in the lineup Monday so Aulie will be held out. Aulie just skated Sunday night but that was the only game he's played in since February 20th. He has yet to record a single point in 19 games played this season but has picked up 53 penalty minutes. Mar 9 - 7:06 PM

Depth Charts

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is looking forward to welcoming Connor McDavid into the Oilers' franchise.

Nugent-Hopkins pointed out that Edmonton has plenty of players that have been through what McDavid is going through now in terms of the expectations that come with being drafted first overall. In that respect, the Oilers are uniquely qualified to help McDavid with his transition, albeit for the wrong reasons. "We're still a young group of forwards and defensemen and everybody is going to be happy to have him for sure," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I hope he's excited. I hope he's really looking forward to joining our team. I know we're really excited to have him come to us."

Wayne Gretzky has little doubt that Connor McDavid will be able to smoothly transition to the NHL this season.

"Going right from junior to the NHL? That’s a big step for Connor," Gretzky said. "But he’s the one guy who can handle it. He’ll be fine. With his speed and his shot and his creativity and his hockey knowledge, that’s as good as anybody." McDavid is facing similar challenges as Gretzky — media focus, fans, comparisons and filling huge expectations. McDavid had 44 goals and 120 points with the OHL’s Erie Otters last season.

The third overall pick in the 2014 Draft was used as the Oilers second center for 37 games last season before he was sent back to junior hockey as Edmonton did not have another pivot to play behind Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. But this season Connor McDavid will line up at center as well as Anton Lander and Mark Letestu. "I’d be totally fine with that" Draisaitl said about the shift to the wing. "I’ve played the wing before. I know how to play the wing and for me it wouldn’t really matter. As long as I’m on the team. You have more responsibility as a center. A lot of times you’re the guy working down low with the defenseman. That takes work, the kind you don’t have as a winger. You have to work hard as a winger as well, but it’s a little different role. I know how to play both and I think that’s a good thing to have." Stay tuned.

Taylor Hall will enter the off-season with new-found confidence after helping Canada win a gold medal at the World Hockey Championship.

"To end the season like that and to go into the summer feeling good not only about yourself, but what you can bring to a team, is a really good feeling," said Hall. He has played on a losing Edmonton Oilers team for the past five seasons, so getting a tournament victory has rejuvenated him. Hall was named a All-Star at the Worlds and he registered 12 points, including seven goals, in 10 games. He is also excited to continue playing for coach Todd McLellan, who was hired by the Oilers shortly after he was the bench boss for Canada at the World Championship.

The Arizona Coyotes have traded winger Lauri Korpikoski to the Edmonton Oilers for center Boyd Gordon.

Both on expiring contracts that host $3M salaries, the Oilers free up an additional half-million dollars in cap space with the move. The 28-year-old Korpikoski is coming off a 21-point season in 69 games for Arizona, but just one of his six goals came at even-strength.

Benoit Pouliot tallied three points in the Oilers’ 6-5 overtime loss to the Canucks on Saturday night.

Pouliot, who got a goal and two helpers, has been a bright spot amid another disappointing season in Edmonton. He finishes up with 19 goals and 34 points in 58 games. Taylor Hall (goal, assist), Nail Yakupov, Jordan Eberle and Teddy Purcell netted the other goals.

Rob Klinkhammer picked up six more hits in Friday's 4-0 loss to Minnesota.

Through 18 games with the Oilers the young ruffian now has an astounding 83 hits, 13 more hits than he had in 29 combined games with the Penguins and Coyotes. On the season Klinkhammer has collected 163 hits, good for 17th in the NHL, over 47 games with eight points and 17 PIMs.

Luke Gazdic has lost about eight pounds, bringing him down to roughly 230.

Gazdic plans to be down to about 225 pounds by the time training camp starts as he wants to be a bit more of a leaner, quicker player. "It's made a difference," he continued. "I really feel it on the ice. I won't lose any strength because I do want to be quicker and I want to be more agile but I still have to be able to take on the toughest guys in the league." He had three points and 43 penalty minutes in 40 games with Edmonton last season.

Matt Hendricks is really enjoying himself playing for the United States in the World Championships.

The 33-year-old is providing veteran leadership as he is the only member of the team who is both married and has children. "To be brought here to a foreign country where I’ve never been and get to put the USA jersey on for the first time in my career has been just incredible. Having that ‘C’ on the sweater means a lot, too. And, yes, I’m the only guy with kids. I have boy-girl twins that are three and a half," he said of Gunnar and Lennon. The Americans take on Russia in the semi-finals on Saturday with the winner taking on the winner of Canada and the Czech Republic for the gold Sunday.

Jordan Eberle will play for Canada at the upcoming World Championships.

Eberle does not want to play in the World Championships any more but the Oilers lack of success during the regular season forces him to play in the Worlds rather than the NHL playoffs. "Yeah, this will be my fifth time playing for Canada," Eberle said. "I’m looking forward to still playing some hockey and developing my game. I’m still a young guy. I don’t want to be there every year (27 games so far at the worlds). I want to be in the playoffs. I've been there four years and haven’t had much success but it’s nice to get the opportunity to have a chance to win." He will be joined on the Canadian squad by Taylor Hall.

Teddy Purcell ended his five-game goal skid with a power play marker in the second period of Thursday's 8-2 loss to the Kings.

It was a nice goal, too. Purcell floated to between the hash-marks and corralled an Anton Lander rebound with the end-point of his reach, and fired it through Jonathan Quick's legs all in one motion. Purcell now has 11 goals and 33 points this season, with five coming on the man advantage.

Tyler Pitlick thinks that if he could get better luck on the injury front, then he could earn a regular spot with the Oilers.

Pitlick has suffered a variety of health problem over the years, with his most recent issue being an injured spleen, which sidelined him for a little over three months last season. He finished with two goals in 17 games with Edmonton. "If I could just stay healthy and play consistently and get in a groove, even those games I played at the end of last season, I was feeling comfortable," Pitlick said. "I was getting my game down and I felt good then I had the injury. I think if I didn’t have all those injuries, I’d definitely be an every day NHL player."

Schultz has signed a one-year, $3.9 million contract and he could be in for a long-term deal after that if he has a strong 2014-15 campaign. "It'll set up my future with this team and I need to take that step forward and show that I'm a player that they want to have and they want to have for a long time," Schultz said. He had six goals and 31 points in 81 games with Edmonton in 2014-15, but as he noted, he needs to be more solid defensively.

Ference will miss Wednesday's contest as a result. He has three goals and 14 points in 70 contests this season. Look for Keith Aulie to come out of the press box to round out the Oilers' blueline in Ference's absence.

Newly signed defenseman Andrej Sekera said that going to Edmonton was an easy choice for him.

Sekera and the Oilers agreed to a six-year deal with an AAV of $5.5 million per season on Wednesday. "I looked at the roster and I saw the team they had, the coach and the management," Sekera said. "When I saw what kind of players they had there, it made my choice very easy. They have a lot of skill, a lot of speed and a lot of smart players. They have a good coach, a good GM and a good goalie. It was a good place for me to play with my style of hockey, so that's why I chose Edmonton." The 29-year-old will add some experience to a young blue line. He will be counted on to play some significant minutes this season and beyond.

Nikita Nikitin will not play in Saturday's tilt with Calgary due to an undisclosed injury. He's considered day-to-day.

It's been an agonizing season for Nikitin who's been limited by injury and ineffective play all season long. He's seen just 42 games and has posted 10 points, 12 PIMs, 21 hits, and 49 blocks during that time.

Klefbom started the season in the AHL but was recalled on November 27 and has not looked back. The Oilers are using him in all situations and he has become the go-to guy as far as playing against the other team's top line. "It’s been a good season for me, I think," Klefbom said. "I started off in Oklahoma and had some good games down there. Now in the second half of the season, it feels like I’ve taken another step." Klefbom has two goals and 14 points in 47 games so don't jump on him this season as far as fantasy hockey is concerned.

Griffin Reinhart will return to Edmonton but this time it will be with the Oilers.

Reinhart, selected fourth overall in the 2012 draft, played his junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL so it is a homecoming. Reinhart has struggled at the professional level but the blueliner is still only 21 and has a bright future ahead of him as the Oilers continue to build their blueline. He had seven goals and 22 points in 59 AHL games last season so it could be tough to recommend him in fantasy pools for the upcoming season.

Senators' General Manager Bryan Murray admitted that one of the reasons he traded Eric Gryba was to give him a chance to play regularly at the NHL level.

Gryba was a bottom pairing defenseman with the Senators, and he also served as a healthy scratch at times because of Ottawa's depth at the position. He should be able to be a full-time regular on a young Edmonton team. "You have to evaluate where good guys fit in your organization and that’s where we thought (Gryba) was," said Murray. "He was playing as a sixth (defenceman). It’s good for him (to go to Edmonton). There’s no sense holding him up if he’s going to play somewhere else (on a regular basis)."

That is bad but even worse is the fact that Scrivens faced only 100 shots in that time frame for a save percentage of .800. He finished the season with a 15-26-11 record to go with a 3.16 GAA and a .890 save percentage. If he was on your fantasy squad at the end of the season, you were not in contention.

Cam Talbot said he's looking forward to battling for the number one job in Edmonton's crease.

The Oilers still have Ben Scrivens and they brought in former Islanders' goaltender Anders Nilsson on a one-way contract, but the job should be Talbot's to lose. "Obviously Ben and Anders are good goalies as well so there will be a battle in the crease. I’m looking forward to the competition," said Talbot. The 28-year-old was acquired from the Rangers at the NHL Draft, and he is scheduled to become an unrestricted free-agent at season's end.